Spring can offer ski travel bargains — if you avoid spring break

The first day of spring is just a few weeks away. But if the Winter Olympics have inspired you to squeeze in a skiing or snowboarding trip, you still have plenty of time to score a bargain.

“It depends on how you define ‘spring,'” said Dan Sherman, chief marketing officer for Ski.com, which customizes snowsports travel packages.

Spring skiers have already dodged two of the priciest periods of the season — the December holidays, and Presidents Day weekend in February, Sherman said. They’ve also missed what the site says was the best week for costs, crowds and powder, from late January into early February.

Vacationers on “spring break” in March represent a third ski-season peak in prices and traffic. (Amid a slew of warm-weather destinations, Denver ranks eighth on airfare-tracking tool Hopper’s list of most-monitored spring break spots.)

“Generally people are booking early, because they know they have a set window to travel,” Sherman said.